COLLEGE TODAY:

FROM THE PUERTO RICAN STUDENT’S POINT

OF VIEW

Stephany Seary English Class

Edda L. Reyes
Susej Sánchez Course:3103
Section:M09
Overview
This presentation consists of…

Introduction

Literature
review
Methodology

How we applied it

Data analysis

Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
We have decided to research the Puerto Rican

students' point of view on college today. As freshman in college

we think it is important that we that we define clearly where we

stand on typical college issues. Such issues include the

cost of attending a university, up-to-date curriculums,

extra- curricular activities, resources available to us as

students, and the maintenance of such campuses. Through

our research we hope to see how the average student feels

universities can improve and where they stand on the a

fore mentioned issues.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Similar studies conducted…

 Sobering Statistics on College Drinking

This study is about how drinking affects the college life. There are
statistics that show how much drinks are consumed per weeks, the
academic impact, the booze and sex and the effect of this problem
on relationships. The study shows that there are alcohol awareness
that can be use, but without the help of parents and friends, it's
almost impossible for these awareness to make them succeed. The
parents can help by talking about family expectations regarding
alcohol, drugs, about how to take care of friends who have imbibed
and about the statistics on college drinking.
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Stress on College Students

The Associated Press and a college TV station, mtvU, did a research

on the stress on college students at many colleges throughout the
United States. This study shows the effect of the stress on college
students and the college life. The followings are the reasons for the
students' stress: pressure to do well, amount of schoolwork, social
acceptance, missing family and friends, problems at home and peer
pressure. This survey found that four out of ten college students
report they feel stressed often. One out of five say they feel stressed
most of the time. One out of four students experienced daily stress
and one in ten had thoughts of suicide.
METHODOLOGY

There are three types of methodology:

 Quantitative
 Qualitative

 Mixed mode (mix of both methods)

TYPES OF METHODOLOGY
 Quantitative: is a research method that relies less
on interviews, observations, small numbers of
questionnaires, focus groups, subjective reports and
case studies but is much more focused on the
collection and analysis of numerical data and
statistics.

 Qualitative: are methods that do not involve

measurement or statistics. Qualitative methods
usually consist of three kinds of data collection:
observation, open-ended interviewing, and
document review.
HOW WE APPLIED IT
 We chose to apply
the quantitative
methodology by
creating a survey.
 Our survey consists
of two parts:
demographics and
ten statements.
DATA ANALYSIS

62% of our participants were female

college students in their freshman year
between the ages of 17-19. In total, 31
female students between the ages of
16-23 and 19 male students between
the ages of 18-34 participated in our Participants
search. Our team analyzed each
statement one by one and calculated the
62% 38%
percentages of students who agreed or
disagreed with each statement.
Female Male
Demographics
Participant Demographic*

Gender Females Males Total students

Freshman 23 9 32
Sophomore 2 5 7

Junior 2 2 4

Senior 3 0 3
Other 1 3 4

* For purposes of this study all participants studied were puerto rican
Statement by Statement
 Private universities are more beneficial to students than public
universities.

12% strongly disagree -54% disagree -8% agree-42% strongly agree

 Students would benefit from repairs at their universities(holes in the

streets, more parking spaces, air conditioning, etc.)

2% strongly disagree -10% disagree- 36% agree- 52% strongly agree

 The curriculums offered to students are not out-dated and don’t need to be
improved at all.

20% strongly disagree - 34% disagree -22% agree - 6% strongly agree

 Extra-curricular activities such as parties don’t affect students’ academics.

10% strongly disagree - 30% disagree -30% agree -30% strongly agree
Statement by Statement
 Students don’t have enough work-study options offered to them at
their universities.

14% strongly disagree -36% disagree - 40% agree -10% strongly agree
 The universities resources fully satisfy the academic needs of the
students.

2% strongly disagree -36% disagree - 50% agree -12% strongly agree

 Universities don’t offer enough resources to students with special
needs (i.e. student mothers, special needs kids, etc.).

16% strongly disagree - 42% disagree -28% agree -14% strongly agree
Statement by Statement
 The cost of attending universities is affordable to the average
student.

20% strongly disagree - 36% disagree -32% agree -6% strongly agree

 Universities lack sufficient technological resources (computers,

libraries, etc.) for the students.

14% strongly disagree - 44% disagree -28% agree -8% strongly agree

 Universities don’t have enough extra-curricular activities or events

(i.e. teams, sport events, parties).

16% strongly disagree- 36% disagree -36% agree -12% strongly agree
Conclusions
 Statement 1:
Private universities are more beneficial to students than public universities.
Students strongly disagreed with this statement. This means they feel
comfortable attending public universities. It shows that they have faith in the
public school system and that they don’t feel they would be better off
attending a private university. We believe this is a huge compliment for
public universities.
 Statement 2:
Students would benefit from repairs at their universities (holes in the streets,
more parking spaces, air conditioning, etc.).
Many universities need repairs and the fact that 52%of students strongly
agreed with this statement shows that they feel universities could improve in
this aspect and could use better accommodations such as air conditioning in
their class rooms and more parking spaces in their campuses.
Conclusions
 Statement 3:
The curriculums offered to students are not out-dated and don’t need to be
improved at all.
Many students disagreed with this statement, which shows they believe that
their curriculums could stand to be improved and should be modernized and
brought up to speed with today’s modern student.
 Statement 4:
Extra-curricular activities such as parties don’t affect students’ academics.
Although it’s been proven in several occasions that partying and such extra-
curricular activities have an effect on students’ grades, many agreed with this
statement. As a group we believe otherwise and have reason to believe that our
fellow classmates may have answered this question with a little biased or in their
favor. Since most of our participants were freshman this could mean one of two
things: they aren’t really concerned with their grades or they were in a state of
denial when answering this statement.
Conclusions
 Statement 5:
Students don’t have enough work-study options offered to them at their
universities.
It was a close call, but most the students agreed with this statement. We
believe this means that students feel comfortable attending universities
while having a job and that universities have done a good job at
accommodating them.
 Statements 6 & 9:
The universities resources fully satisfy the academic needs of the students.
Universities lack sufficient technological resources (computers, libraries,
etc.) for the students.
62% of our participants either agreed or strongly agreed with statement 6
and 58% of our participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with
statement 9. This shows that students don’t feel they are missing anything
when it comes to their academics. They don’t feel they are missing any
technological resources they might need to complete their work. They are
fully satisfied with universities in this aspect and universities should
definitely take this as a compliment.
Conclusions
 Statement 7:
Universities don’t offer enough resources to students with special needs (i.e.
student mothers, special needs kids, etc.).

58% of our participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with this

statement. This is good because it means that students with special needs don’t
feel alienated from the other students and that they are well accommodated at
their universities.

 Statement 8:
The cost of attending universities is affordable to the average student.
The majority of our participants disagreed with this statement. This proves that
many students are worried they won’t be able to attend a university because
they are worried they won’t be able to afford it. Although much has been done to
make it known, they way the students responded could also mean that they
aren’t well aware of the help the government offers to students with low
incomes.
Conclusions
 Statement 10:
Universities don’t have enough extra-curricular activities or events
(i.e. teams, sport events, parties)

Many students feel they are offered enough extra-curricular

activities at their universities. However, a high percentage of the
students don’t agree. This could mean that universities need to
advertise/ promote the involvement of students in campus activities
to better ensure that each student is well aware of what extra-
curricular are offered at their universities.
Our thoughts on the project…

We had a great time collecting the information we

needed to finish our project. After concluding our
research and finalizing our data analysis we are proud of
our fellow classmates. They have shown true concern
for these college issues. They have demonstrated that
they have thought about these issues and formed their
own opinions about them. We can only hope that they
continue to form their own opinions so that in the future
they can become well-rounded leaders of tomorrow.
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